


Christmas Magic

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: Christmas, M/M, Romance, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 07:38:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2684651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas is a magical time of year, especially in Eureka when you are not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivestra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivestra/gifts).



> Written for **Rivestra** for **yuletide 2014**
> 
>  **Rivestra** wanted _Anything with Eureka-specific weirdness. I miss the town and its denizens so much, and I have a particular soft spot for Global Dynamics bureaucratic weirdness. Not that I’d say no to some smokin’ hot Nathan/Carter._
> 
> I really hope you enjoy your story!

Henry once told Jack that magic was just science waiting to be explained so, by that definition, Christmas in Eureka was magical. It was late afternoon on Christmas Eve and it was a winter wonderland with crisp, white snow underfoot, with icicles hanging like jewels from building fronts and trees, broken only by garlands of green from the many pine trees and wreaths of holly. Every store was trying to look more Christmasy than the next, with twinkling lights and mechanical Santas, Angels, Elves, Snowmen and, okay that was freakish, an evil looking Jack Frost sending out showers of ice crystals at passers-by.

Mistletoe hung over doorways and boughs of holly and holographic depictions of Christmas trees and log fires graced window displays, giving an illusion of warmth. In another hour the sun would set and those twinkling lights and holograms would look even more magical.

The only science part he almost understood was the special-issued boots with non-slip soles. Henry said he could walk up walls of ice in these but Jack decided not to put that to the test. Being able to navigate the sidewalk without falling on his ass and looking like even more of an idiot than usual was good enough for him, though he wished the boots were better insulated; his feet were frozen.

The one thing that was not so magical about this winter wonderland was the cold.

He was L.A. born and raised, and the closest he had come to snow before joining the U.S. Marshals was the fake stuff in Disneyland. His breath plumed as he breathed out and he rubbed his hands together vigorously to try to put some feeling back into his cold and stiff fingers. The leather uniform jacket had been warm enough in the Fall but now did very little to keep out the cold. He shivered uncontrollably and stomped from foot to foot, trying to keep warm by moving.

Of all the times the traffic lights should fail on main street, this was the worst. Andy was up at Global having his body and skin repaired after a collision with the side wing blade of an out of control automated snowplow - another of Fargo's inventions gone haywire. It meant Jack was stuck freezing his ass off in the middle of main street controlling the traffic manually until Henry could repair the signals.

Unfortunately, Henry was dealing with another crisis right now, though he had promised to get back to him as quickly as possible. Jack hoped that would be before he froze to death.

A cold gust of wind blew along the main street just as he breathed in, and the frigid air hurt his lungs, making him cough.

He cursed under his breath as the next car to draw up was a familiar black BMW, and sure enough he saw Stark in the driver's seat looking warm and smug. For a moment he was tempted to make him wait longer than necessary, just to wipe that smirk off his handsome face, but Jack's sense of duty won out over the momentary flare of pettiness. After all, it wasn't Stark's fault that the lights had failed. He could blame that on Fargo and some hare-brained idea of making the traffic lights fit with the Christmas season by depicting festive holograms and pretty tunes depending on the color.

Personally, Jack was tempted to throw Fargo in jail until the holiday season was over, just to teach him not to touch things.

Jack flipped the sign he carried to stop the traffic from the other cross street, allowing Stark to move on, but he was unable to resist turning slightly to watch Stark pull into a vacant parking bay right outside Cafe Diem. As always these days, Jack found it hard to keep his eyes from following Stark's tall, lean but muscular frame as he climbed out and entered the cafe, immaculately dressed even in casual dark jeans, a warm jacket and scarf. Jack felt a moment of envy when he saw Vincent hand over a steaming mug of coffee immediately, as if he had been expecting Stark.

The short blare of a car horn pulled his attention back to his duty, and he waved on Doctor Weatherly, the climatologist who had failed to predict the unnatural amount of snowfall and drastic drop in temperature. Probably because it was unnatural. When he woke up this morning Jack had expected a light dusting overnight rather than the foot of snow waiting for him when he left the bunker, and it was still snowing lightly.

As he kept the traffic moving he wondered if Fargo was to blame for this as well.

****

Nathan settled down with his mulled wine latte into one of the side booths close to the window, breathing in the spicy aroma that simply added to the pleasure of the season. Despite Carter calling him _The Grinch_ a week back when he'd vetoed the Carol Singers performing in the atrium below his office, Nathan loved Christmas. He just wasn't willing to deal with the paperwork required in triplicate just for the dubious pleasure of listening to Fargo and others - dressed up in Victorian costumes - caroling for a whole day in a fake snow scene, complete with old-fashioned lamp post - even if he could sound proof his office.

The last time he had given in to the Christmas Spirit within the walls of Global, he'd spent half the day chasing Taggart's animatronics woodland creatures and fairies through the corridors. He'd then spent another half day explaining to the D.O.D. why five projects would be delayed due to the fairy dust clogging the delicate electronics and triggering the emergency evacuation alarm. Though it had almost been worth it for the sight of Carter glittering from head to toe in a layer of sparkles after he crawled through the vents after the last of the escaped fairies.

Thinking of Jack Carter made him glance out of the window, where he spotted Carter still playing with the traffic, and Nathan felt a little guilty because the usual happy, animated puppy expression was missing. Carter looked miserable, and cold. He saw Carter wrap his arms around himself during a lull in the traffic, visibly shaking, but Nathan looked away as casually as possible when their eyes met.

When he returned to Global three months earlier, after spending most of the previous year working on a top secret project in Nevada, Carter seemed different. He actually looked shocked to see him and they'd spent a few very uncomfortable minutes where he thought Jack was going to have a mental breakdown and cry, or even hug him.

Admittedly, he had stayed out of contact for the whole of that year, but he hadn't exactly parted Eureka on the best of terms.

When he proposed to Allison he had every intention of marrying her again, but instead he had boarded a plane to Nevada only hours after the canceled wedding. Something had happened to him while he stood in Leo Weinbrenner's time chamber, expecting to die. He had realized that he had been using Allison as a safety net, clinging onto her out of misguided macho posturing against Carter, rather than out of love for his ex-wife.

Not that he didn't love Allison, but it had never been the all-consuming passion that was such a favorite of romance movies and stories around the world. He'd never experienced that depth of emotion with anyone - least not until he looked into the blue eyes of a battered, scared, and confused Jack Carter, knowing he was about to die, and finding his heart full of regret for having never seen through the rivalry between them to the honest truth - he was in love with Jack.

A strategic withdrawal had seemed to be the best option at the time, though Carter would call it running away.

Now he was back as Director, and Carter was different in small ways. For starters, he no longer followed Allison around, wagging his tail like an excited, attention-seeking puppy. Carter and Allison still flirted but Nathan could tell that neither intended for it to go any further than that, as if they had traveled down that road and found nothing exciting at the end of it. He had noticed Carter checking him out when he thought Nathan's attention was elsewhere, catching Carter's reflection in various mirrored surfaces revealing more than casual interest.

He sipped on his latte, closing his eyes momentarily in appreciation - Vincent had excelled as usual - before glancing Carter's way again.

Carter. Jack.

He sighed at his own pitiful attempt to keep some distance between them by referring to him as 'Carter' rather than 'Jack', even inside his own head. Beverly Barlow would have had a field day with that evasion and denial on his part - if the traitorous bitch was still in Eureka.

He watched Carter - Jack - rub his hands together. Jack was everything he liked in a man; physically pleasing to the eye in both looks and body, and definitely not as smart as him. Basically, a dumb, blue-eyed blond with a great body. Except if all Nathan wanted was some dumb blond to fuck then he would head into Portland and the nearest gay bar and pick up someone far less troublesome than Jack Carter.

Instead, he had to admit that there was more to his appreciation of Jack than mere looks. He respected Jack's sense of duty, his honor, his affability, his way of making everyone around him seem important. It was little wonder that most of the town loved their sheriff, but more than that, Jack made him laugh, and he made Nathan want to try harder to protect the people around him.

Fargo interrupted Nathan's surreptitious appreciation of Carter when he slid into the seat opposite, smiling eagerly at Nathan as he set his datapad on the tabletop.

"The answer is still no, Fargo," Nathan stated drolly before taking another sip of his latte, though it was too late regardless of any potential change of mind on his part. Nathan had used his position as Director to close Global down for the next two days, and just to make sure no one was tempted to sneak back in, Nathan had arranged a bio-cleanse. Once Deputy Andy was repaired and released, there would be only a small security presence left at the main gate until the cleanse was completed.

Fargo's smile faded a fraction. While Nathan was in Nevada, Fargo had held the Director position but he had gladly stepped aside when Nathan returned, strangely happy to go back to being his assistant, although this time he had full access to Section Five and all its secret projects. Unlike Jack, Fargo **had** hugged him, and Henry had looked as if Christmas had come early when Nathan first set foot back in Eureka unannounced after a year's absence. Even Allison had seemed pleased to see him - and then not so pleased when she realized he'd known all about Jenna but hadn't made any attempt to see his daughter. She'd refused to accept that the project was so secret that he couldn't get a message to her.

"Um, this isn't about the carol singing."

Fargo placed a box on the table and with a cheesy, eager grin, he beckoned Nathan to open it. Inside was a thin, long-sleeved t-shirt. It was made of the same PetroTech insulation material that Zane had figured out how to turn into clothing while in charge of the Consumer Lab set up by Eva Thorne. Nathan raised an eyebrow as he lifted the soft, light, but warm material. It was hideously expensive to create as clothing, though Nathan had Doctor Chaud working on finding cheaper alternatives for the military.

His eyes flicked across to Jack, who was looking even colder and hence even more miserable with each passing minute, if that was possible. Making a decision, he stood up with the shirt in hand and strode out of the cafe, leaving a confused Fargo behind. Jack cocked his head to one side as Nathan approached, looking equally as confused as Fargo but obviously too cold to give a damn.

"Carter."

"Stark."

"Take off your jacket and shirt..."

"You must be joking! I'm already freezing my ass-." 

"...and put this on underneath," Jack's eyebrows had risen almost comically, blue eyes widening in disbelief as Nathan continued. "Trust me, Carter, the sight of you shivering to death is actually ruining the pleasure of my mulled wine latte," he added.

Jack narrowed his eyes but Nathan continued to hold out the thin shirt while watching the emotions chase across Jack's expressive face in quick succession, ranging from irritation to curiosity and eventually, to defeat. Jack huffed in resignation, his warm breath pluming in the frigid air. He pulled off his gloves, visibly steeling himself before quickly shedding his leather jacket and shirt, shaking from the cold as he handed them to Nathan before grabbing the shirt and quickly pulling it on over the top of his brown undershirt. The moment it was on, Jack straightened, eyes widening in surprise. Fingers splayed, his hand brushed over the material stretched over his chest, caressing himself in a way that had Nathan's cock twitching in interest.

"That's... surprisingly warm."

"PetroTech," Nathan stated as he handed back Jack's other clothes, and for the first time since Nathan arrived in town that afternoon, a smile graced Jack's pale lips as he buttoned up his uniform shirt and pulled back on his leather jacket.

"I don't suppose you have any gloves or socks made of this?" Jack asked.

"No." Nathan turned and started to walk away but Jack called out to him.

"Why?"

Nathan didn't pretend to misunderstand the question, glancing back over his shoulder as he continued walking.

"Wouldn't want the Sheriff to freeze to death on main street before the lights are fixed," he replied nonchalantly, "Someone important might have an accident," but his words and tone failed to irritate Jack for once.

His steps faltered momentarily at the soft and warm, "Thanks, Nathan," that floated behind him as he headed back into Cafe Diem for a second mulled wine latte.

****

Jack's hands and feet still felt cold but for the first time in nearly two hours he felt warm everywhere else, and it was enough to break him out of the misery that had gripped him tight since he awoke that morning. The fact that this kind gesture had come from Nathan Stark was like a Christmas Miracle in its own right.

Maybe The Grinch's heart had expanded several sizes after all, he thought, mentioning it to Henry when he arrived soon after. Henry had given him a contemplating look before sighing and shrugging; he had the lights fixed within twenty minutes.

"You are a life saver, Henry." Henry patted Jack on the shoulder, and Jack followed him back to his truck and waited for Henry to climb into the cab.

"Merry Christmas to you too," Henry responded with a bright smile. "Now, are you sure you won't change your mind?"

"I'm fine. Enjoy your Christmas with Grace."

Jack trudged back to his empty but warm Sheriff's Office, deciding to make a start on the paperwork, cursing at the pins and needles as the warmth returned to his frozen fingers and toes. After spending a couple of hours filling out reports on the broken traffic lights and several other snow-related incidents about town, he finally decided to head home.

Andy would be first on call over the next two days - though Jack didn't expect too many disasters while Global had a forced shut down on all experiments. He touched wood superstitiously anyway.

The sun had set while he completed his paperwork, and that's when Jack's misery returned. Zoe was in L.A. with Abby, though she planned to spend New Year in Eureka with him. Zane and Jo were in another ON period in their relationship and had already left Eureka to spend Christmas with Jo's brothers, and Henry and Grace were heading out of town to stay with Grace's family. Both Jo and Henry had extended the offer to Jack but he had declined, not wanting to impose on their families.

Allison had left Eureka early yesterday, taking Kevin and Jenna with her to spend Christmas with their grandparents, and even Fargo was heading off soon to see Claudia and Artie at the Warehouse, taking SARAH's main program with him and leaving his house in basic mode only. Even though it sounded intriguing, Jack had turned down the offer to accompany Fargo on the grounds that he wanted to sit back and watch TV in peace rather than fret over what magical artefact Fargo had managed to activate by mistake. He'd let the Warehouse agents deal with Fargo's clumsiness for once.

Still, it was Christmas Eve and it occurred to him that all he had to look forward to for the next two days was an empty bunker. He had nowhere to go, and no one to be with.

Caught in a melancholy mood, Jack paused halfway to his Cherokee as he caught the lights of Cafe Diem twinkling tastefully in the darkness, looking warm and inviting.

"Oh, why not," he murmured and headed across the street. At least he wouldn't have to cook for himself or collect pizza; they refused to deliver since SARAH disintegrated the pizza delivery guy in that first year. The door opened with a familiar Christmas jingle of sleigh bells.

"Merry Christmas, Sheriff. What can I get for you?" Vincent smiled warmly while simultaneously placing a Vinspresso in front of him.

Jack was tempted to ask for the usual but it _was_ Christmas after all, and he had seen Jo order the special at lunchtime, which looked and smelled delicious.

"Thanks. I'll have the Christmas Special, Vince."

Vince's sudden indrawn breath and the hand across his heart was almost amusing. The tears of gratitude that filled Vincent's eyes almost made Jack change his mind and cancel the order in favor of his usual burger and fries.

"God bless you, Sheriff," Vincent sniffled and headed off into the kitchen.

Shrugging, Jack removed his jacket and hung it up. He was about to slide onto the bench seat of the booth closest to the holographic log fire when he spotted Nathan seated alone further along. He thought Nathan would have left hours earlier, jetting off to some place warm or attending some fancy black tie party. Jack debated internally for a moment and then figured he had nothing to lose.

"Mind if I join you?"

Nathan raised both eyebrows and for a moment it looked like he was about to refuse, but then he indicated to the seat opposite. "Sure. Why not, Sheriff." His own meal was barely touched but still looked warm.

"Jack."

This time only a single eyebrow rose in query before Nathan nodded once. "Jack."

"I wanted to say thanks again for the..." He tugged aside his shirt to reveal the PetroTech vest.

"You were cold."

"Cold doesn't even begin to cover how I felt out there earlier." Jack replied. "I was _freezing_." 

Nathan smiled. "In that case, I'm glad I could prevent an officer of the law from freezing to death."

Jack smiled back, and Vince chose that moment to bring his order, happily reciting the main ingredients with a small quaver in his voice as he set the plate down in front of Jack with a flourish. Nathan looked on in amusement.

"I believe you just made his Christmas," Nathan stated softly after Vince left.

"Yeah," he drew out, "For a moment there I thought I'd broken him."

The meal led to coffee, and then to an offer of an alcoholic drink, with neither of them eager to leave the company of the other, or so it seemed to Jack. He couldn't recall ever having a proper conversation with Nathan before today, and though they still bickered, it was good-natured teasing rather than malicious barbs, bordering on flirtatious. They even managed to find some common ground for once, whiling away the hours as they talked of places they had seen.

"And this wave broke right over me, board going one direction, me the other," Jack laughed as Nathan talked of his one and only time surfing.

Jack found himself smiling as he nursed his one beer, trying to draw out the moment when he'd have to take that final swallow and feel obliged to part company with Nathan. He swirled the amber liquid around the bottom of the glass and looked back up to find Nathan looking across the table at him as if he was studying a particularly interesting experiment. Jack saw the moment when speculation ended and Nathan came to some inner decision. A devil-may-care smile graced his lips as he reached over carefully and laid one hand over Jack's, light enough that Jack could slip his hand away if he wasn't interested.

Jack was interested though, and letting Nathan's fingers entwine with his own was his answer.

He watched as Nathan's smile warmed. Nathan flicked his eyes to Vincent before murmuring softly, "Would you like to make my Christmas too, Jack?"

Jack licked his lips at the very thought of having Nathan to unwrap this Christmas. It had been a long time since he'd surfed that particular wave but he had a feeling it would be just as exhilarating now as then. Slightly embarrassed by his unabashed appraisal, Jack glanced across at Vince and noticed that Vince was trying far too hard to pretend he wasn't paying any attention to them; not that he would be able to see their joined hands from his angle or overhear Nathan's softly spoken words.

Although Vince was cleaning down the counter, he wasn't making any other hurry-up signs considering it was near closing time on Christmas Eve. If anything he seemed overly eager watching them, and he seemed genuinely disappointed when Jack stood up to leave - until Nathan stood up too, still holding onto Jack's hand.

That's when things got _way weird_ , with Vince disappearing into the kitchen before Jack could wish him a 'Merry Christmas'. He returned moments later, all bright-eyed with excitement, and pressed a bottle of an expensive single malt into Jack's free hand.

"For you both to enjoy. Merry Christmas." Vincent clasped both hands together in delight before he ushered them towards the door.

When Jack glanced over his shoulder on his way to his Cherokee, eager to follow Nathan home after silent promises of more than just a few celebratory Christmas drinks, he could swear he saw Vince dancing.

Hours later, the memory of hands and lips, and the tingle of beard burn on his inner thighs and ass, made him sigh contentedly. He had almost forgotten what it was like to be with an energetic, stronger partner, slowly taken apart before a hard cock replaced a talented mouth, thrusting deep inside him. His body felt sated and lethargic, pulling towards sleep as he pressed close to Nathan, one arm draped over the body he had eagerly unwrapped beneath the Christmas Tree. The flames of a holographic log fire, gently flickering, added to the colorful pattern of chasing tree lights cast across their naked, sweat-soaked skin, while the orchestral strains of carols played softly in the background, adding to the magic of Christmas.

"Come on," Nathan murmured, and Jack groaned as Nathan elbowed him gently to gain his attention. "I have a comfortable bed upstairs."

And that sounded pretty magical too.

END  
.


End file.
